Narcissism VS Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (Pt 2 of 2)

As we celebrate the great and glorious Fourth of July, I’m driven to contrast our self-evident inalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness VS narcissism. America was established as a haven where hard-working, self-governing men and women could escape from the despots and dictators who sought to control them.
And hasn’t every despot and dictator that ever lived been a narcissist? Of course they have!

The movies of legendary Hollywood director, Frank Capra, have taught me more about Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness than any history book. Like my immigrant ancestors, Frank Capra’s Sicilian parents kissed the ground when they safely reached the shores of America. Perhaps that’s why life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness feature so centrally to many of his films.

Click here to read Part 1 of Narcissism VS Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

But in every great movie, there has to be the antagonist, the “bad guy.” In Capra’s movies, he’s always money-hungry and power-hungry. Hmmm. That sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?

In the tear-jerking movie Meet John Doe a hard-boiled newspaperman, Connell (James Gleason), talks to John Doe (Gary Cooper) about liberty and those who seek to deprive others of this God-given right.

Yessir. I’m a sucker for this country. I’m a sucker for the Star Spangled Banner—and I’m a sucker for this country. I like what we got here! I like it! A guy can say what he wants—and do what he wants—without having a bayonet shoved through his belly. Now, that’s all right, isn’t it? All right. And we don’t want anybody coming around changing it, do we? No, sir. And when they do I get mad! I get boiling mad. And right now, John, I’m sizzling! I get mad for a lot of other guys besides myself—I get mad for a guy named Washington! And a guy named Jefferson—and Lincoln. Lighthouses, John! Lighthouses in a foggy world! You know what I mean? …It’s a beautiful miracle. A miracle that could only happen right here in the good old U.S.A. And I think it’s terrific! What do you think of that! Me! Hard-boiled Connell! I think it’s plenty terrific!…Now, supposing a certain unmentionable worm…was trying to use that to shove his way…So he could put the screws on, so he could turn out the lights in those lighthouses. What would you say about that? Huh?

I say it stinks to High Heaven when anyone deprives another person of their God-Given rights. And that’s just what narcissists do. In Part 1, we talked about Life. Now, let’s have a chat about Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Liberty

Narcissists hate that we have freedom. I mean, liberty is the antithesis of their precious control, control, control. It challenges their god-like status. It threatens their role of despot and dictator. It prevents them from getting that drug-like “high” when they dominate. They’ll do almost anything to deprive us of our God-given right of Liberty. Their strategies include brainwashing, scare tactics, love-bombing and plain ol’ domination, so we’re more scared of them than we are of the big, scary world we’d like to explore.

Like what your reading? Order Anti-Narc Art for your home lovingly woodburned by the author of this article!

Running their love of control a close second, is their love of money. Scratch under the surface and you’ll often find a monetary reason for a narcissist forbidding our freedom. Maybe they’re living off of us, like a parasite. Maybe it’s about an anticipated inheritance from a rich relative.

So Capra had it right all along. In his movie, Meet John Doe, D. B. Norton exploited us, the “John Does” and “Jane Does” everywhere, for both money and power. In You Can’t Take It With You, banker Anthony P. Kirby tried to bribe, manipulate and finally force the little guy to sell his beloved home. And in the Christmas classic, It’s A Wonderful Life, Mr. Potter tries to wrest control and charge egregious rent amounts from the working folk of Bedford Falls.

Money and power. Money and power. Who was it that said, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Oh yeah! God said that! (I Timothy 6:10)

The Pursuit of Happiness

If they can’t be happy, we certainly can’t be happy. And narcissists are never happy…so they’ll be damned if we are happy. It’s almost mathematical.

Sometimes they’re subtle, sometime they’re overt about it. Thinking back, I remember many “happy” times that Dad attended, his unhappiness evident from his facial expression. My wedding was one such event.

Stories abound of how narcissists always attempt to ruin happy events if they are not the center of attention. You have only to join a Facebook group about narcissism to read tale after tale of narcissists throwing fits, faking heart attacks or otherwise attempting to ruin the happiest days of other people’s lives. It’s so typical, it’s almost cliché.

Inalienable Rights

I guess all the books about narcissism were right after all. Narcissists really do crave god-like status. And what better way to achieve that than by taking away what God has given: our inalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. They have no qualms of conscience in attempting to deny us what God has given us.

Maybe today should be the day that, like our Founding Fathers, we write our own Declaration of Independence and reclaim our God-given rights!

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. Under no circumstances should it be considered therapy nor replace therapy and treatment. If you are feeling suicidal, thinking about hurting yourself, or are concerned that someone you know may be in danger of hurting himself or herself, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255). It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is staffed by certified crisis response professionals. The content of these blogs and all blogs written by Lenora Thompson are merely her opinion. If you are in need of help, please contact qualified mental health professionals.

Narcissism VS Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (Pt 2 of 2)

Lenora Thompson

Lenora Thompson is a syndicated Huffington Post and YourTango freelance writer and entrepreneur. Her readers call her the "Edward Snowden" and "Wikileaks" of narcissism because of her no-holds-barred-take-no-prisoners approach to writing about narcissism.
“Narcissism Meets Normalcy” is the real-life, ongoing story of her healing journey from being held “hostage” by a multi-generational, cult-like narcissistic family. It's gritty and real, bloody and bruised, humorous and sarcastic. Lenora Thompson considers herself a “whistleblower,” shining a spotlight on narcissistic abuse so others can also claim their freedom and experience healing.
To learn more about Lenora, subscribe to her bi-weekly e-newsletter, contribute to help her husband fight his extremely rare lung disease, Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis and shop her e-store, please visit www.lenorathompsonwriter.com.